The present invention relates to an infant care warmer adapted to provide heat for the warming of an infant and, more particularly, to a method of controlling the initial intensity of a heater used in an infant warmer.
In the treatment of infants, and particularly those born prematurely, it is necessary to provide heat to the infant during the treatment of such infants and to minimize the heat loss of the infant. Accordingly, a common apparatus for providing such heat is an infant warmer. In general, the infant warmer comprises a flat, planar surface on which the infant rests while some procedure is being carried out on the infant. There are normally protective guards that surround the infant to keep the infant contained within the apparatus and there is an overhead heater that directs radiant energy in the infrared spectrum toward the infant to impinge upon that infant to provide warmth.
An infant warmer is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,517 of Falk and is an example of the type of infant care apparatus that is used to provide warmth to an infant while carrying our some procedure on that infant
There is a difficulty on start up of such radiant heaters in that in many instances, the infant is experiencing a loss of heat and it is therefor prudent to supply the heat to the infant rapidly to reach the desired temperature of the infant. In particular, radiant heaters warm up at a relatively slow process and thus there is a time period that the infant is in need of heat and it would be advantageous to reduce the time period to a minimum.